The Best Friend of the Person I Like is Secretly Approaching Me - Chapter 121

Part 16: Together with My Junior

Chapter 121

It is summer vacation, and just walking outside makes me sweat.

Driven by the urge to enter any shop just to cool off without any particular need, I walked through the city streets until I reached my destination.

“Chinese food this time, huh?”

“Mhm.”

Today, I went out to eat with Oda.

It was yakiniku last time, and this time Chinese. Both were Oda’s choice.

As we entered the restaurant, a rush of cool air enveloped us, and our body temperature began to drop.

The relief was short-lived as the sweat cooled and I started feeling a bit cold.

Well, eating should warm me up.

Guided by the waiter, we walked through the restaurant with its distinctly Chinese decor and sat down at a normal table.

It was all-you-can-eat again. It’s definitely easier when it comes to paying, and we do want to eat a lot.

“Seko, use this touch panel to place our orders.”

“So convenient. Alright, go ahead and order whatever.”

“Leave it to me.”

The food that Oda ordered arrived, and we started eating to our heart’s content.

Everything is delicious this time too, and we can’t stop our chopsticks.

I wonder where Oda always gets his information from.

After we finished the dishes from the first order, we placed an additional order and chatted while waiting for the food to arrive.

Honestly, this was the main agenda for today.

“So, Seko, you still haven’t been able to contact the two of them?”

“Yeah, it doesn’t seem like I’ve been blocked, but the message I sent a week ago hasn’t even been read yet.”

A week ago. The day of the last day of the first term.

I wanted to talk about the future and went to that café with the two of them… Misa and Haru.

However, the discussion didn’t go smoothly, and eventually, Koido intervened and I had to leave the shop.

Several minutes later, Koido, who had come out to where I was waiting, reported back to me that the two had already gone home.

Then she told me that the two of them had decided to keep their distance from me.

I immediately tried to contact both of them. However, to this day, there has been no response to that message from either of them.

“Do you consider that you’ve broken up with them, Seko?”

“…I don’t know. I know some that ‘taking distance’ might imply a breakup, but it’s so sudden, and I haven’t heard it from them directly. Besides—”

“Considering how they were acting up until just before, it’s hard to believe that they would suddenly say they want to break up with you, Seko.”

“…Yeah.”

It might be conceit. But the worry I had before the summer vacation started was precisely because of that.

We were dating as a trio, but neither of them was willing to give me up to the other.

Because both were in a romantic relationship with me, they continued to relentlessly attack each other.

——Doing something like a lover with me.

That was their method of attack.

That’s why I know exactly how they feel. There’s no way I could be wrong.

“Then, it must be that Koido said something to the two of them. Looking at it on the surface, it seems like Koido is the only winner.”

“Koido doesn’t have those kinds of feelings for me. So I don’t think there’s any win or lose.”

“Can you really be so sure? Someone might actually have feelings for you…didn’t we learn that from Hinata’s case?”

Indeed, Haru had offered to manage my s*xual desires for Misa’s sake, and we had entered into such a relationship.

The motive for her actions being that she actually liked me was a shock I had only a few months ago.

But——

“Koido herself said it. She only sees me as a senpai, nothing more. I’m not a romantic interest to her.”

“But Seko, just because she said it doesn’t make it a solid basis for──”

“She wouldn’t lie to me. That’s why it’s different.”

Koido seems to see through everything about me, which is a bit scary at times.

But she told me she wouldn’t lie to me, and she hasn’t lied to me so far.

That’s why I believe her words.

Feeling my determination, Oda muttered, “I see.”

“Then, have you been meeting with Koido?”

“No, I haven’t. In fact, I haven’t met anyone besides my family since the summer vacation started. Though, we’ve been in touch.”

“Hmm. Then the likelihood is low… Oh, I’m sorry. I just wanted to confirm something.”

“Don’t worry about it. I get that you’re asking out of concern for me, Oda.”

“Seko…”

“Oda…”

“Sorry to keep you waiting. Here are your ordered dumplings and xiaolongbao.”

As we were confirming our friendship, the food we ordered earlier arrived.

The waiter looked at us alternately with a smile.

That’s good service.

I picked up a dumpling with my chopsticks and brought it to my mouth.

Come to think of it, I remember Misa saying that in mainland China, they mean boiled dumplings when they say dumplings, not fried ones.

“Ahem. By the way, Seko, it might be a bit late to ask, but are you feeling alright now?”

“Yeah. I’ve had enough rest over the past week. I don’t even need medicine anymore.”

“That’s good to hear. I wish I had noticed your ill health sooner… I’m sorry.”

“No worries, really. Plus, the medicine was working while I was at school, so I wasn’t feeling too bad. Don’t worry about it.”

“…Thank you.”

“Thanks should be coming from me, though.”

“No, I’m just expressing my gratitude for your kindness.”

“…This isn’t kindness. I’m just trying to get rid of my own guilt.”

“I consider that kindness, though. After all, humans are egoistic creatures. It’s about how much you can include others within the frame of your ego. That’s the measure of a person’s capacity and kindness, in my view.”

The frame of ego… huh?

Oda sure says some complicated things.

In other words, is it about how many people you can care for as if they were yourself?

…Still, it’s hard to grasp.

I can’t confidently say that I’ve always treasured them.

I split the xiaolongbao that had just arrived with chopsticks and cooled the inside to avoid burning my mouth.

Come to think of it, Haru had a cat’s tongue. (TN: Sensitive to hot foods)

“Right, let’s hear about your love life, Oda.”

“Wha, mine!? It’s going smoothly, but I might hurt Mr. Seko’s feelings by saying so.”

“You already said it. I heard there was quite a drama(修羅場) recently. Something about sharing an umbrella with the club president.”

“H-how does Seko know about that!?”

“The source is Koido. After all, your girlfriend is friends with Koido.”

“Ugh… So that’s what it is. However, I need not be flustered any longer. That matter has been completely resolved!”

“Really? Oda, are you some kind of smooth operator?”

“Stop with the baseless praise. In the first place, everything was a misunderstanding.”

Hearing the whole story about the so-called drama from Oda himself, I was convinced and thought, ‘I see.’

Caught in the rain, Oda was walking with his own umbrella when he encountered the club president, who also had her umbrella.

At that moment, a gust of wind flipped Oda’s cheap umbrella inside out.

However, since it could be fixed by closing it, Oda decided to do so. But that meant getting wet in the meantime, so the club president offered to share her umbrella.

As Oda was closing his umbrella, they both ended up under the club president’s. This scene was coincidentally witnessed by his girlfriend.

Just as Oda said, it was a misunderstanding on his girlfriend’s part.

“So, does that mean you and your girlfriend are still lovey-dovey?”

“Indeed. We went to Enoshima again together just the other day.”

Saying that, Oda showed me a shyly taken photo of the two of them together. The background was certainly a familiar sight.

“…Hm? Didn’t your girlfriend wear glasses?”

“Indeed. It seems she has switched to contacts recently.”

“Wow. Just taking off the glasses completely changes the impression, huh? I might not have recognized her if Oda wasn’t in the picture with her.”

“That’s true. I was also surprised when I first saw her that I accidentally blurted out ‘cute’ in front of the club president.”

“In front of the club president.. Hm? Wait a minute.”

“…Seko. Could you give me some advice?”

“No, wait. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

“Actually, the club president used to wear glasses too, but after my unintentional comment, she switched to contacts. Now, every time we meet, she asks, ‘Oda, do you think I’m cute too?’ It’s gotten so persistent that I’ve contemplated just saying it once, but my girlfriend… Kusakabe-san glares at me as if she’s keeping watch.”

“Wait, wait, wait. I thought you said the drama was resolved?”

“Seko… it seems a drama is something that arises infinitely.”

While I think it’s not good to generalize, I’ve had too many experiences myself, so I couldn’t find the words to deny Oda’s statement.